The Demon and The Messiah
by SailorCardKnight
Summary: Rei has an apocalyptic vision of the end of the world. A approaching darkness of chaos? A strange man? A messiah? What does it all mean? She then meets Stanford Pines, the unknown man from her vision...
1. A premonition of the end? The myster

**\- Chapter 1 - ****A premonition of the end? The mysterious traveling stranger**

* * *

It was coming.

She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but she could feel it.

A darkness unlike any other they had faced before. A darkness of chaotic nightmares turned reality, devouring everything in its path.

Sailor Moon, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus. They where all there too.

A six fingered man was with them. Who was he?

They where all powerless to stop it.

A butterfly of prismatic colors fluttered past her, getting her attention.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared, a messiah came to save them!

Wait, the light broke itself into three? She reached out to grab them, but they vanished.

She called out to her friends, but it was too late, the darkness had already taken them.

A spine chilling maniacal laughter echoed throughout the dark void.

* * *

Rei awoke, sitting up in a cold sweat. Still in a daze, she realized she was in her bedroom, and that her friends where with her. She and the girls have been holding study groups at her place in preparation for their high school entrance exams. At some point after Rei had nodded off, Usagi started reading comics, and had awoken Rei with the sound of her laughter.

Although Usagi didn't notice Rei's abrupt awakening, the other girls did.

"What's wrong Rei?" Ami asked.

"You seemed to be having a nightmare." Makoto said.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Rei told them, "It's just that I had a strange dream."

"A strange dream?" Minako wondered.

Usagi put down the manga she was reading, and joined in on the conversation, an attempt to hide the fact she was reading Rei's manga without her permission again. "I had a strange dream this morning too. I went to the hospital because I ate too much ice cream, and there...Momo-chan was brought in on a stretcher for eating too many mooncakes!..."

Usagi then went on reciting the rest of her own dream, thinking it was funny enough to share. Ami then asked her what score she got on her last exam, but she was met with silence. Typical Usagi as usual. The rest of the group went back to their studies, but Rei just couldn't get that dream she just had off of her mind.

Usagi attempted to return to to studying as well. She thought for sure Rei would have scolded her, yet it never came. Did her distraction work? Occasionally she would stop and look over, and kept seeing Rei stare off into space. She was lost in some thought that appeared to really trouble her. It was rather unusual of her, and Usagi seemed to be the only one who took notice.

* * *

Somewhere in a deep dark place beneath the Earth, a lone figure stood before a grand pool of water. She wore a long black dress, had long red hair, and clutched a staff with a black star on it in her hand. This figure had just ended her conversation with someone unknown. She raised her head and got to her feet, then made her way out of the cavern. She traversed down a long pathway lit by emerald green, low ambient lights, into another area with other rooms. She approached a particular door, and opened it. Inside this room there was a laboratory, a man in a white lab coat scribbled notes under a dim lamp while closely examining a test tube. This man was so focused on what he was doing, he didn't realize he had a visitor.

"Professor Tomoe?" the person said.

Without skipping a beat from what he was doing, the man set his test tube down and picked up another to examine.

"Ah Kaolinite, come in." the man said to his visitor, "So what did our Lord say?"

"He was wondering if your Daimons where ready."

"Success of Daimons merging with organic hosts has been very limited, but merging with material objects and plant life from this planet has been very successful. They are ready for further tests in the field."

Kaolnite smiled, "Well, our Lord has given us permission to begin the next phase of the plan when your Daimons where ready."

Tomoe grinned now too, he set the test tube down, then adjusted his glasses. "Excellent. After many years of preparation, traversing across the universe, and setting up this place on this scared ground, the time has finally come. Soon this world will be ours! We must prepare for our Lord's arrival." he grabbed another test tube and held it under a flame.

Kaolinite spoke again, "I still have been unable to locate the bearers of the talismans. Our Lord is unsure as well, as they have been able to avoid his eye."

Tomoe shrugged, he removed the tube from the flame and poured it's contents into a beaker. "No matter. He said the bearers have pure hearts? We will just start our search by seeking those who are pure of heart."

The contents within the beaker began to come fully alive. It swiftly grew, breaking the glass, and formed into an egg the size of a robin's. Tomoe took the new life into his hands and passed it along to Kaolinite. "I entrust this Daimon egg to you." he told her, "Seek out someone who may be a potential barrier."

She took the egg, and nodded. "I will pass this along to my girls. They can handle the search."

* * *

At the end of study session, everyone left Rei's place for the evening except Usagi who stayed behind. "Hey Rei," Usagi asked, "I saw you had 'The Cherry Project' in your collection, can I borrow it?"

Rei, who was still somewhat out of it, returned to reality, "Oh, yeah, sure. I like how you are actually _asking_ to borrow my manga for once instead of just grabbing it."

Rei made her way back into her bedroom and Usagi followed. Rei picked up her comics and handed them to Usagi. Usagi beamed with joy, "Yay! I've been wanting to read this for a while, now I can finally read it myself! I'm a big fan of the author!"

Rei picked up another book, and held it up for Usagi to see, "I also have the next copy of 'Yu Yu Hakusho' if you would like to read it."

Usagi grew pale, it was the exact manga she was reading earlier. Apparently Rei didn't see her read it afteral, but she can't let her know that. "Oh, I was able to read it already from someone else at school." she lied.

Rei was a little surprised, "Really?" Rei shrugged then set it back on her bookshelf, not noticing she somehow managed to place it back on the self upside down.

Usagi did notice, between this current moment and earlier, she decided to ask. "Something bothering you Rei?"

Rei paused. A thought of the dream briefly returned. She didn't want Usagi to worry about her, she had enough of her own issues. Besides, it was only a dream. Right?

"Oh, just been thinking of a lot of things today." Rei said dismissively in response, then she paused again before asking, "Hey, Usagi, have you ever thought about the future? And what you would like to do?"

Usagi smiled giddily, "Isn't it obvious, marry Mamo-chan someday of course!" then she remembered their recent trip into the 30th century. With Crystal Tokyo, what happened with the Black Moon, and especially Chibi-usa. It was still rather strange not having her around anymore. "...well, I guess that is the only thing for certain, everything is all mixed up right now."

"Well, whatever you end up doing, I'm there to lend a hand. Although," Rei gave Usagi a look, "you many want to put a little more effort into your grades if you don't want to embarrass Mamoru." Usagi felt really embarrassed from that comment. Rei gave a little chuckle, "But don't worry Usagi, grades aren't everything, just be sure to keep smiling, it's the one thing you're best at."

Usagi decided she needed to get going but before she left, she decided to say one last thing to Rei.

"Rei," she said, "don't forget, we're always here to help too." then Usagi gave her one last big smile for the night, which made Rei smile in return.

* * *

The next day came, but Rei was no better off. She didn't get much sleep the previous night as she was up late in the fire reading room again, hoping to find out more the about disturbing vision she had. Unfortunately, still nothing more came to her, same with every other attempt prior. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't shake that vision out of her mind. Did it mean something? Should she be worried? Since he hasn't had any other similar visions since, perhaps it was nothing to worry about? Maybe it was just total nonsense? Afteral, what was the likelihood of actually running into someone with six fingers?

While walking home from school in a daze, she ran into something solid and fell off her feet. As Rei began to readjust to reality, she realized she bumped into a person, they spun around and spoke to her. It was a language she was having difficulty understanding properly, it sounded like English. She noticed this person appeared to be an oddly dressed foreigner, a traveler no doubt. He was an older man with greying hair, wore glasses and a long coat, he appeared to be carrying an equally odd assortment of things with him. He bent down to make sure she was alright, she understood that much English at least. From his looks and accent, he is definitely an American from the States, she concluded.

"I'm fine sir," Rei told him, "I just wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I'm terribly sorry I bumped into you." As she realized she probably should have tried saying something in English, he ended up surprising her when he responded in Japanese this time.

"Oh! You speak Japanese here, that makes things easy for me. It's nice to hear a language I'm familiar with for a change." the man said, "Well, I'm glad you're alright, I'm very sorry if I was in your way miss, I was too caught up in my own thoughts myself. I was just trying to figure out where I was at."

"This is the Juban District."

"and...where? Is that the name of this city?"

Rei blinked, thinking it was a little odd for someone to be asking such a thing. "Er, it's part of Tokyo."

"Tokyo, Japan?"

Rei blinked again, "Yes..."

The man grinned, as he looked around. "Well I'll be, I thought this place looked a little familiar. It's not exactly the same, but there's a number of similarities."

Rei attempted to get to her feet, the man noticed this, "Where are my manners! Let me help you up there Miss." he held out his hand. Rei grabbed hold of it, and after she got to her feet, she realized something felt off about it. Instead of letting go, she took a closer look at it, she grew pale when she saw that this man had a sixth finger.

"Your hand!" Rei said in shock.

The man chuckled, "Yeah, I get that reaction a lot. First time meeting someone with six fingers?"

She let go of his hand, her thoughts where still processing, "Um yes."

The man looked around again, then asked Rei, "So um, I know this may sound strange, but you wouldn't happen to know some place where I can get a bite to eat and some rest, at least the evening? I'm still finding my way around, and I don't have any currency from here."

A crazy thought hit Rei, a thought so crazy and risky, she was willing to take it.

* * *

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

All the other girls, aside from Rei, said in unison at their study session for that evening.

"Well, we have the extra room here at the temple, so I figured why not." Rei explained.

"But taking in a strange guy from off the street that you just met?" asked Minako, "What if this guy is a creepy perv or some killer?"

Just then Yuichiro popped up in Rei's open window. A piece of cloth tied to his head like some makeshift mask and a shinai in hand. Everyone but Rei jumped, "Miss Rei, nothing suspicious to report."

Rei nodded, "Thank you Yuichiro." then he vanished, she spoke with the rest of the group again, "_'This guy'_ is Stanford Pines. I already have Yuichiro keeping an eye on him, and...well, I was hoping you would all help me watch him as well."

They where all puzzled, this time Ami spoke. "But if you are this concerned about him, why did you decide to take him into your place to begin with?"

For a moment the vision returned to Rei's mind. Should she tell them what she saw? No, she wants to know more first about the meaning of it, perhaps she should at least share the part about that man?

"Well, it's just that I had a strange vision, and this person was in it. I'm not sure what it meant, but I feel it might be something very important. So until I can better understand it, I figured it was best to keep him in a location where I can observe him."

Makoto crossed her arms, in thought, "A possible new enemy?"

Rei looked out her window into the courtyard of the temple, she could see Ford had struck up a friendly conversation with her Grandfather, "I'm not certain..."

There was a long silence before Usagi jumped up and slammed her hands on the table, "MAKO-CHAN!" Makoto jumped, "We should help fix a nice dinner for Rei-chan's guest!"

"Uh, okay, sure." Makoto said, getting to her own feet now.

"Minako, Ami...you're coming with!" Usagi announced.

Ami and Minako where taken a bit aback, all 4 of them really didn't need to be there, did they? Yet Usagi insisted.

* * *

So the four girls headed to a small grocery store near Rei's place to pick up a variety of things to make for dinner. All while they where looking around the store, they discussed Rei's surprise guest. Ami was skimming through a computer magazine while they shopped. This issue featured an exclusive article about the company, StanCo Technologies, and their successful recent expansion into the Japanese market. "You think it's a good idea?" Ami asked, "I mean the logic is sound, but perhaps it's a little reckless?"

"Well, Rei's psychic visions have been pretty spot on in the past, and if this stranger is in it, it might be worth looking into." Minako shrugged.

Usagi then tried to sneak some sweets into the hand-basket Makoto was carrying, Makoto chimed in as she swatted Usagi's advancements away, "Yeah! If this guy is connected with some new enemy, we already have 'em. We'll just lay a trap, and catch him in the act if he tries to pull something."

Ami put her index finger in the air to make a point, "We need to be careful, what if he knows who we really are and it's part of some elaborate trap for _us_?"

Usagi then added in her two cents, "But...what if his story is like Chibi-usa's? Maybe he's not our enemy at all?" The rest of the group now looked at Usagi, she continued. "If there is something that is going to happen, maybe he is someone who needs our help, or can help us. If he is our enemy, perhaps if we just communicate with him, we can reason with him to get him to stop whatever he may be planning."

Everyone stared at Usagi, surprised at what she just said. "Wow, Usagi," Ami said, impressed, "that is actually a rather mature thing for you to say."

Usagi then tried to sneak some more sweets into the hand basket again, but Makoto pulled the basket out of her reach. Usagi threw a fit like some child, and the others let out a sigh.

* * *

While the girls where gone, Rei decided to step out of her room into the courtyard for some fresh air. She looked for the man, but didn't see him. Thoughts of that vision returned yet again, now that this man from her vision has made an appearance, does this mean everything else is going to happen soon? Will she and the rest of the Sailor Senshi be able to stop it? A shiver shot down her spine and the very thought of that apocalyptic vision becoming a reality.

She made her way over to where they keep the Omikuji fortunes they give out to those who visit the shrine. She drew one, then held her breath before reading it. Her heart sank, it wasn't the sort of fortune she wanted to see right now. She looked over to the tree, walked over, then tied her fortune to it. She prayed, "I hope everyone will will happily without anything bad happening..."

At the base of the stairs that lead up to the temple, Luna had just arrived. She happened to look up and saw Artemis was already making his own way up the steps. "Oh! Artemis!" she said, greeting him. He stopped and looked at her, "Hey Luna, you here to join the girls as well?"

They continued their little chat, which turned into a rant from Luna about how Usagi should be acting a little more responsible. They had to pause their conversation as Rei's Grandfather went by the both of them, Yuichiro in tow. Grandpa was rambling on about how upset he was that their new guest never knew about some of the wonderful things Japan had to offer, and decided to go and get them for him. Yuichiro tried to protest, explaining that Rei assigned him a special mission and he didn't want to let her down. Grandpa was having none of it, however. "Non-sense my boy, my granddaughter is perfectly capable of handling herself. You, however, are weak." Upon hearing this, Yuichiro was too taken aback to protest any further and ended up summiting to his sensei's whim.

After when the two humans where gone and it was just the cats, Artemis spoke. "That poor fellow. Some of the things he has to put up with."

Suddenly, they where interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. The two cats stopped talking for a moment, but quickly realized Usagi had come running up to them. "Usagi? I thought you where already here with the girls." Luna asked in surprise.

In between breaths gasping for air from the running, Usagi spoke. "We where, but then we went to get food. The rest of the girls are behind me...you happen to see anything since you got here?"

"Well," Luna said, "we saw Rei's grandfather and Yuichiro leave not too long ago."

Usagi perked up, "Wait, so that means Rei is alone with..."

Suddenly, all three of them heard Rei's screams from atop of the stairs, then dashed up the steps to see what was going on. Was it the strange man? Was he really an enemy and it was some trap like some of the others had suggested? When they reached the top of the stairs, they found Rei had indeed been attacked, but it was not the man. Instead it was a rather strange-looking woman, with a pair of large bells in her hair, and a long red and white rope for a ponytail. This woman pulled her shirt open, revealing her cleavage, a glowing black beam of light shot out from a black star on her chest and hit Rei.

Upon seeing this usual, unusual scene, Usagi quickly jumped behind a tree to hide. "What is that?!" she asked Luna. "I don't know, but you should transform." Luna told her.

Usagi nodded then threw her locket brooch into the air.

The monster, who was completely oblivious to her surroundings, was suddenly interrupted as she heard, "Stop right There!" It stopped, then turned to look, Usagi was now dressed as Sailor Moon, and she did her speech. "For love and justice, I am the pretty soldier in a sailor suit, Sailor Moon! I can't forgive you for harassing my pure-hearted friend! In the name of the moon, I will punish you."

The monster spoke, "Your friend's pure heart is the very reason why she was targeted." it then whipped it's rope hair around, wrapping itself around Usagi's ankles, slamming her into a wall, "Your fortune is...VERY BAD!"

As Usagi took a moment to regain herself, the rest of her friends appeared. They all quickly realized the urgency of the situation, and attempted to transform as well, only for the monster to pin them all against some of the surrounding trees. As Usagi attempted to return to her feet, the monster approached her, but it stopped when a rose appeared, striking it's head. Usagi immediately seized this moment that her ally, Tuxedo Mask, had given her by distracting it. Usagi summoned her Moon Scepter, wherever it usually comes from when she is not using it, and cried out, "Moon Princess Halation!"

A glittery beam of light shot out from her Scepter, but it was no use, it didn't even faze the monster. In its frustration of being unable to complete its task from all of the distractions. It pounced upon Usagi, pinning her to a tree now, and grabbed the broach on her chest with it's teeth. It cracked, and broke, destabilizing its power, thus undoing the transformation. Usagi was shocked and completely helpless as she watched the monster pin down Tuxedo Mask. In a desperate move, Luna and Artemis jumped in and tried to help, but their attempts where in vain. With all of the distractions finally out of it's way, the monster then returned to what it was doing by drawing Rei's pure heart from out of her body. Rei continued to scream in pain until a beautiful crystal appeared, then her body feel limp. The crystal itself emitted a shimmering, brilliant glow or red, flickering like a lone ember from a fire.

Usagi called out to Rei but she didn't respond to her as she was unconscious. Rei's body continued to grow pale with each passing moment, a thought stuck Usagi. Does this mean she is dead? Despite all the times Rei teased her and made fun of her, she knew how much Rei cared about her and the others. They had all been through so much. Tears began to well up in Usagi's eyes, her cries grew more desperate. The monster merely let out a laugh of joyous victory, grabbing the crystal, now intending to return to it's base of operations.

Suddenly something unexpected happened, as laser beam shot out from out of nowhere. The beam sliced off the monster's hand, it let go of the crystal and turned into wood. Before the monster could regrow a new hand, a strange, small electronic device was thrown at it and it attached itself to it's body. The device admitted a flashing red light and gave off a strange noise, the monster attempted to rip it off with it's other hand, but it stayed attached, "It won't come off?!"

A lone figure then stepped out from behind the brush, laser pistol in hand, aimed directly at the monster, it was Stanford. The device continued to beep louder and louder, and the monster desperately struggled to take it off. When it stopped, Ford spoke, like a quip out of some American action film. "Looks like your own good fortune...just ran out!"

The monster screamed, as the electric device sent out a shockwave. The monster's body warped and twisted about, forming back into it's original form of a tree. Once everyone was free from the traps that the monster had ensnared everyone with, they all immediately rushed over to Rei to see if she was alright.

Meanwhile in the shadows, a pair of figures where examining Rei's Heart Crystal very closely. "This isn't a talisman." one of them said. "It appears they picked the wrong target." said the other. The one holding the crystal threw it away, drifting back to Rei's body, like a delicate snowflake gliding though the air, "A trip wasted."

Usagi continued to desperately wake Rei up, but stopped when she saw the crystal had suddenly appeared before Rei's body. It gave off a small burst of twinkling light as it remerged with Rei's body. When the light vanished, Rei finally began to stir. Her eyes fluttered open in a total daze, she wasn't entirely sure what had just happened to her, but one thing was certain, she was alive. Usagi cried some more, but instead of tears of sadness, they where of joy as she gave Rei a huge hug.

Ford put his laser pistol back into his coat and went running over to the girls, "Thank goodness my Quantum Molecule Stabilizer worked on that creature, is she alright?" he asked.

All of the girls stopped and looked at Ford. Makoto stood before him in a fighting stance, ready to throw a swift Judo move at him if she needed too. Usagi held Rei tightly, and Ami and Minako gripped at their own transformation wands. Mamoru joined the rest of them as well, he stood beside Makoto, his cane drawn also ready to strike.

Sensing the tension, Ford threw both his hands up in the air. He immediately understood he was the outsider, and they had every right to suspect him first for what just happened to their friend. "Hold on now, take it easy. I have nothing to do with that thing that just attacked your friend Miss Rei here. I swear!"

"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Makoto asked, still not standing down.

"What where those devices of yours?" Ami asked too, "I've never seen any sort of technology like that."

"I can explain everything to all of you..." he said.

Tensions continued to flare up until Rei spoke, her voice was a little weak, but loud enough to hear. "Wait..." she said, interrupting the stand off for a moment, "I would like to hear what he has to say..."

* * *

Back in the secret underground laboratory, Kaolinite had just returned and informed Professor Tomoe of what had happened.

"I see..." he said, rubbing his chin in thought, "so my Daimon was flawless, but someone or something vanquished it? Interesting."

"I will seek out other potential targets, and find out more about those who resist us." Kaolinite held out her hand, her staff with the black star appeared once more. "I will leave you with your work on the Daimons."

"Indeed I shall." Tomoe told her and Kaolinite left to return to her viewing pool to get further insight.

Tomoe removed his hand from his chin. "Well, it appears that taking over this planet won't be as simple as we thought." he casually placed his hands into his pockets, not the slightest bit concerned over the situation. "No matter, in the end it will still be ours." Tomoe turned to look upon the wall on one side of his laboratory, "Isn't that right, my Lord?" On the laboratory wall hung a framed image of a three-sided, one-eyed beast, flames alit in his hands, with an added hat and bow-tie for a touch of class. Tomoe let out a maniacal laughter that echoed throughout the facility.

It was only the beginning towards the end.

* * *

_HL YVTRMH LFI OIGGOV GZOV, DSL DROO RG YV GSZG DROO KIVEZRO? _

_TL ZSVZD ORO TRIO HXLFGS, GIB ZH BLF NZB, BLFI VUULIGH DROO LMOB VMW RMW RM WRHNAB._

* * *

**Up Next: Chapter 2 – "Beautiful and graceful, the lovely Haruka and Michiru"**

* * *

_Author Ramblings – Weeeeee! I had a lot of fun writing this one. I will be mostly following the 90's anime of Sailor Moon for this, with bits from the manga thrown in. Example being the Death Busters being more like the anime, except for Kaolinite, who will be more like her manga counterpart. I will also be dropping lots of references to 90's technology, as Sailor Moon S (the Infinity Arc) takes place during the year of 1994 afteral. Just a heads up._

_I also want to apologize for doing a lot of copy/pasting from established Sailor Moon episodes. I admit I'm only doing this to help get the ball rolling and progress the Sailor Moon side of the narrative faster. Hopefully I managed to present it in an interesting enough way. Once Usagi gets her powers back, I will start bringing in more Gravity Falls characters, and it will start getting into the more unique parts of the narrative, I promise._

_As for the Gravity Falls side of the narrative. Obviously this story takes place during Ford's interdementional travels. I might be making occasional references to the published Journal 3 book, but it will not be a required reading for this. _

_For those of you who have decided to take the time to read this story, thank you. Unfortunately, __GF/SM fanfics don't seem to be in demand right now, but hopefully I'm proven wrong. __Please let me know your thoughts so far by leaving a review, or if you want to silently follow/fav that will work too. __I have loads of fun ideas for later chapters, hopefully you'll stick around._

_(PS Don't worry, I kept the codes simple to solve, I just hope I made them right. It's the Atbash cipher in case you are wondering.)_

_(PSS I'm still used to the days when didn't have cover art for their fanfics, so I completely forgot to make something. Have a random picture of Super Sailor Moon until I get a chance to put something else up.)_


	2. Beautiful and graceful, the lovely Haruk

**\- Chapter 2 - ****Beautiful and graceful, the lovely Haruka and Michiru**

* * *

They all gathered together in a room at the Hikawa shrine. The 5 young girls and their guardian cats all had their eyes on the mysterious man, like a defendant on trial before a grand jury and judges. Ford sat, calm and collected, it was not the first time he found himself in such a position and it would definitely not be the last.

"As I'm sure you all have figured out: I'm not from around here." he said.

"As if the American appearance wasn't obvious enough..." Minako muttered, Rei shushed her.

"I'm a scientist and I research the paranormal, I have traveled all over and have studied many things."

"Why have you come to Japan?" Rei asked.

Ford put a hand to the back of his head, "I'm not entirely sure how I managed to wind up here either...it just...happened."

"How come you know such perfect Japanese?" Ami asked

"I had a roommate in college who was from Japan, he helped teach me the language. I'm glad he did, it came in handy when I had to get special parts from Japan when I was working on...er, a special project. I'm glad I found myself here though. It's nice being able to communicate without having to rely on a device to help me translate and understand what others are saying."

Ami placed the broken electronic device that Ford used earlier on the Daimon on the table before them. "What is this thing you used on that monster earlier?"

"A device that I have crafted myself. I've had far too many encounters of inanimate objects transforming into strange creatures during my travels, this device transforms them back into their original state. I wasn't sure at first if the that monster was another such case, but I figured I'd try it. Turns out it was, and I didn't have to result to plan B."

"What was Plan B?" Makoto asked.

Ford gestured to his laser pistol that was laying on the table, "Just keep shooting at it until it was disabled, or found it's weak spot." He looked at the device on the table, and frowned, "Unfortunately, whatever that thing was, it completely fried my Stabilizer. Hopefully I can fix it.."

"Do you know what that thing was?" Ami asked.

Ford shrugged, "Sorry, I'm just as clueless as you girls are."

Silence fell on the group, Ford spoke again. "Would you like me to examine the scene? Perhaps I can help you identify it. I'm sure you girls are just as curious as I am?"

* * *

In the light of the setting sun, Rei directed Ford over to where she was first attacked, and they retraced it's path to the final spot where it was before it was returned to normal. She and the other girls provided any other information that he might have needed. They left out the part of Usagi's transformation into Sailor Moon, and so far it appears Ford hadn't noticed their secret. Meanwhile, all throughout he conversation Usagi herself had been quiet, occasionally checking her brooch.

Ford closely examined everything, and every detail for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. "Fascinating." he said, "It's as if the tree took on a humanoid appearance, but how? A spirt that possessed the tree, perhaps? But why did it decide to attack your friend?"

"The thing said it was searching for a Pure Heart." Makoto said.

Ford continued to ponder out loud, "That was that thing it extracted correct? I wonder if it was some physical manifestation of Rei's soul? But it still doesn't explain how the tree transformed like it did."

At the base of the tree something caught his eye. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small kit. He removed a pair of tweezers and a small container, before putting the rest of the kit back. He stooped down, picked up the shell and placed it inside the container, then brought it to his eye for a closer look. The pieces of shell where no larger than the size of a robin's egg, but something about it looked rather alien.

"Whatever this thing was, it must've fused with this tree. The only thing I can say about it is, it definitely isn't something from Earth." he continued to examine it, "I would like to run some tests on this. Miss Rei..." Ford said as he turned to her, "I'd hate to ask you after what must be such a traumatic experience, but would it be alright if I stay at your place until I solve this? I understand what a burden me being here might be for you and your family. The least I can do is, once I figure out what this thing was, I will do everything I can to ensure anything like it won't attack again. However, if you don't want me around, I will understand."

The four girls stared at Rei, wanting to know what her response was. The memory of the vision she had returned yet again. This man was the first clear connection she had to it, and maybe this connection can help her find answers.

"For the time being, you can continue to stay, but if you decide to pull any funny moves." Rei did her signature Sailor Mars pose, "I will chastise you."

"'Chastise?' Interesting choice of word. Fair enough." Ford put his tweezers away, and put the sample in a safe place, "Say uh, I hate to ask but, who was that guy with the tuxedo and cape earlier?"

Before anyone who could give an explanation about Tuxedo Mask, Usagi let out a scream of terror, "The food we bought at the store!" In the far side of the courtyard, a grocery bag of once fresh food spilled upon the ground. During the chaos of the fight it had been forgotten, and was now spoiled. Usagi crawled over to it, and mourned over the loss. "I was looking forward to Mako's curry..." she sniffed, then wiped a tear. Makoto joined her at the knee, and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay Usagi." she said, "We can get more."

Just then, salvation was at hand as Grandpa and Yuichiro had both returned! In the arms of Yuichiro where piles of boxes and bags filled with a variety of the best things Japan had to offer, especially food. Usagi bowed before them, as if they had been a gift from God himself. Makoto immediately got to work and managed to whip up a tasty meal. Afterwards everyone parted ways.

Ford returned to the room he was staying in and Rei decided to spy on him. He set up a small portable lab using contents within his bag that he carried, and began to work on running tests on the Daimon egg sell. Aside from some of the unusual technology he was using, he wasn't doing anything different from any other seasoned chemist running experiments. What was that tech he was using, was it foreign technology from America? Or perhaps was it something he built himself? Too bad her friend Ami wasn't here, she would know more about such things than she did.

As Rei quietly watched, Yuichiro suddenly appeared beside her.

"Ms. Rei?" he said quietly.

Rei jumped, she was so focused on trying to see what Ford was doing she not expecting Yuichiro's sudden appearance. Her heart nearly jumped from her chest. "Dammit Yuichiro, you startled me!" Rei whispered.

"I thought you wanted me to watch him?" he asked.

"I do, but I wanted to see myself this time." she said.

"So why are we watching him anyway, you didn't really explain to me earlier why you wanted to."

"I dunno, I just have this feeling..."

Ford perked his head up, now realizing he was hearing voices outside of his door.

"Is someone there?" he asked.

Rei and Yuichiro both instantly froze in place. They realized they had to make an excuse fast.

Rei slid open the door, Yuichiro awkwardly stood next to her. "Well, uh, Mr. Pines, we where wondering if you would like for us to set up a bath for you."

Ford pondered for a moment, "A traditional Japanese bath sounds wonderful, but I think I will save that for later. I'm in the middle of running these tests right now, and I don't want to leave them unattended. I do appreciate the thought though."

"Oh, okay then." Rei said, "Do let us know if you need anything." then slid the door shut behind her.

Rei then shooed Yuichiro away so she can continue to spy on Ford herself, determined to find out more about how this man connected with her vision.

* * *

Usagi thrust her brooch into the air.

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE-UP!"

She transformed into Sailor Moon like normal, but something was wrong, the transformation reversed itself and she was back to her normal clothes. "W-what?! What's happening?" Usagi looked at her brooch and was alarmed at what she saw, "The light from the Silver Crystal is fading!"

Suddenly, Ford appeared. "That's okay Usagi," he said smiling, he drew is laser pistol and spun it in his hand like a gunslinger from the old west, "I'll take over for you!"

The rest of the girls, Rei, Ami, Makoto, and Minako now appeared too, they where transformed into their own sailor outfits. Rei crossed her arms, and gave Usagi a smug grin, "You should just retire Usagi." she said. Then Minako spoke, "Ford is a much better leader than you ever where." Makoto pointed over to Ford, "It's like you never left the group."

Usagi looked back over to where Ford was. His hair now in pigtails, wearing some crude Sailor Moon cosplay, and mimicking her iconic pose.

Usagi angrily thrust her finger in Ford's direction, "You think you can come waltzing in here and take over my role like some 2-bit Mary Sue character in someone's fanfiction, you are sorely mistaken! And you...!" Usagi turned her attention to her friends and proceeded to yell at them, "You are all a bunch of traitors!"

She lunged out, attempting to wring one of them by the neck, but instead was met with a rather sharp painful feeling in her face instead.

Usagi awoke, her face stinging in pain, as her eyes adjusted to the morning light, she realized she grabbed Luna in her sleep. Luna was looking rather peeved from being grabbed so suddenly, her claw was still outstretched. Usagi let Luna go, "A dream? Sorry Luna..."

"Geez Usagi..." Luna muttered, then she licked her paw and cleaned her face.

Usagi looked over at her brooch, then picked it up and opened it, her heart sank when she saw the crystal. "It's not a dream, the light from the Silver Crystal is fading, if it doesn't come back I might not be able to transform again. Luna, does this mean I have to retire from being a Sailor Senshi?"

Luna sat up, and looked over at Usagi, "Oh, Usagi I'm sure everything will be fine."

"But Luna," Usagi started to get teary-eyed, "Neo-Queen Serenity lost the ability to transform into Sailor Moon. Could it be that it's my time now?"

Luna approached Usagi, and nuzzled her in an attempt to comfort her, "Usagi, for as long as you have the Silver Crystal, I am confident we can figure something out. We where all able to overcome difficulties before, how will this time be any different?"

Usagi smiled as she gave Luna a hug, "Thank you Luna..."

* * *

Later that afternoon after school, Usagi took a detour over to the Crown Game arcade. She knew better than to let herself get distracted with video games, and Rei would most certainly give her hell for it later, but she felt a few games would help her get her mind off of her concerns with the silver crystal. When she entered the building, much to her surprise she found Minako flirting with Matoki. Matoki noticed Usagi walking in and waved to her, "Oh hey Usagi."

Usagi narrowed her eyes and looked at Minako. "Minako-chan...aren't you supposed to be on your way over to the study group?"

"Aren't you supposed to be doing the same?"

"Touche."

Minako grabbed Usagi by the arm and dragged her along, "Come on Usagi, let's go have fun, we're only young once! Let's go for a round on Fight Fighters together!"

Usagi wasn't expecting to spend time with Minako, but perhaps it was for the best, as it made it easier for her to get her mind off of her concerns. Well, that was she had hoped anyway, as a result she had trouble remembering all the various combo moves for her fighter in the game since she couldn't stay focused. After a while Minako began to take notice in the fact that Usagi wasn't playing her usual best.

"Gee Usagi," Minako said, "I know you're not the best at this one, but normally you manage to win a few rounds against me. Want me to pick someone other than Rumble McSkirmish for you to fight against?"

Usagi sighed, "No that's..." but then paused. As much as she wanted to share her concerns with her friends, what if it is over nothing? Afteral she hadn't tried transforming into Sailor Moon yet. So for the time being, Usagi just decided to avoid talking about it. "Well, I suppose we should try different characters."

Minako nodded so they did. Usagi tried to stay more focused on what she was doing this time, but as she made her move in the game a voice spoke behind her.

"You should use Su-Li's Super Dragon Fury Kick." they said

"Oh thanks for reminding me Mako-chan." Usagi said, then paused at what she just said. She turned to look, "What? What are you doing here Mako-chan?!"

It was indeed Makoto who had suddenly appeared behind them.

In Usagi's distraction, Minako's game character landed a killer punch on Usagi's character knocking her out cold. "Alright! Score again!" Minako said, throwing a victory punch in the air, then just now noticed Makoto was there too. "Oh! Mako, when did you get here?"

"Oh, just now. I thought I'd drop by, as you see..." the girls noticed the Makoto was starting to blush a little. They moved in, getting her to spill what it was she was trying to say. They know her too well, and she was hiding something, "Is it a boy?" they asked in unison. Makoto continued, still blushing, "Er, well, I heard from a reliable source that a handsome guy comes in here all the time."

Matoki, who overheard the conversation, added to it. "Not that often." he said, "once a week really, if that. Sometimes this gorgeous girl is with him too. She's a real looker."

The sounds of a revved up engine on a near-by racing game interjected into their conversation, they all stopped to look and see who was playing that game. It was a rather attractive blonde boy in a Mugen Academy uniform playing the game.

"Who is that over there on the racing game?" Usagi asked.

Matoki pointed to the guy, "That's him right now actually."

The three girls immediately jumped over to where the guy was and watched him race. They where all floored when they realized just how fast he was racing, just like a real pro Formula One race driver!

"That's incredible!" Makoto said, watching the game.

When the race was over, the boy looked up from where he sat. "Oh? It appears I have an audience." he smiled and gave a light chuckle. He took notice in Minako and Usagi, "I saw you two playing the Fight Fighters game earlier. You have some really great moves there." he said, complimenting Minako on that last part.

Minako blushed, "Why thank you."

"And you tried pretty hard yourself, you have potential," he said, now complimenting Usagi, "just work at memorizing those moves and you can be a champ yourself like your friend here in no time. I guess cute girls have great gaming sense too."

Suddenly, another girl walked into the arcade, she was wearing the same school uniform as the boy, but had short blue-green hair. She was absolutely gorgeous. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting Haruka." she said.

The boy named Haruka got up from where he sat, "I got to get going now. I would like to play a round of Fight Fighters next time with the both of you. I'm a pretty good fighter myself, afteral." He gave a wink and walked over to the other girl.

Usagi, Minako, and Makoto watched them as they left, mesmerized by their beauty.

* * *

Usagi wasn't entirely sure how it happened, but the next thing she knew was that she was following her friends and they went to spy on the pretty boy Haruka.

Minako was convinced as the embodiment of the goddess of love and beauty she and Haruka where destined to be together. Makoto said something about how he reminded her of her old boyfriend in a way. She didn't want Minako to take him first if it turned out THEY where the true destined ones. Then Usagi herself somehow ended up tagging along and becoming the voice of reason, reminding them that perhaps the girl he was with was his girlfriend, and they where being ridiculous.

The group followed the two as they spent some time chatting at a coffee shop, but couldn't make out what they where saying. Haruka and the other girl then parted ways, and then Haruka entered an auto repair shop. The girls quietly crept up to the entry into the shop and silently watched. Haruka stood there chatting with a mechanic working on a vehicle. He caught on to the fact that he was being watched, and made his way over to the entrance. He peered around the corner and saw the 3 girls stacked on top of each other. He let out a small chuckle, "It appears my newly formed fan club has followed me."

They all blushed red with embarrassment upon getting caught.

Haruka put his hand into his pockets and leaned against a wall. "Haruka Tenoh, 10th grade at Mugen Academy. You wanted to know more about me right?"

"Y-yes..." Makoto and Minako said at the same time, still blushing. Usagi crossed her arms, "I'm just a tag along. You got nothing on my Mamoru." Minako gave Usagi a comedic karate cop to the head to silence her.

Haruka smiled as the girls separated from their stack, "You have any other questions?"

Minako thrust her hand into the air. "What is your relationship with that other girl?"

"Oh, you mean Michiru?" Haruka said, "We're pretty close, perhaps you could say we've known each other for quite some time."

"She's not your girlfriend is she?" Makoto asked.

"No, she's not."

Minako and Makoto then quickly snuck away to one side, out of Haruka's sight, and proceeded to play rock paper scissors. To see who would try asking him out first.

Usagi continued to speak with Haruka, "So why are you here? Are you interested in cars?"

"Yes, Yamada is a friend of mine." Haruka said, "We've worked on a number of cars together, and took them out on the race track. He wants to be a professional mechanic and help put together a race team and compete all over the world. He's also looking for a driver who is willing to drive the cars he wants to build."

Suddenly, another voice was heard, "Yamada-san has been trying to get Haruka to be that driver for quite some time now."

Haruka and Usagi turned to look, it was Michiru, the green-haired girl from earlier. She came over to join Haruka, she spoke again, "Haruka has a dream of being a top driver herself..."

Haruka cut off Michiru, "No, it's not my dream, it WAS my dream."

Curious, Usagi asked, "What is your dream now?"

With solemn, yet determined look, Haruka spoke again, "To do something only I can do, and to do that I will make any sacrifice. No matter what I lose...I won't regret it."

Suddenly, a car horn went off, followed by screaming, and everyone jumped. The car suddenly transformed into a monster and it was staring down Yamada. Everything happened in a blur for a moment. Usagi, Minako, and Makoto attempted to jump into action to stop the monster, but they all fell and slipped into a product display for auto oil. The monster made its move, took the man's heart crystal, and then vanished. Then Haruka and Michiru suddenly disappeared as well in all of the commotion. When the three girls got to their feet and realized the monster had already disappeared with the crystal, they immediately pursued after it.

Minako and Makoto threw their transformation pens into the air.

"VENUS STAR POWER, MAKE-UP!"

"JUPITER STAR POWER, MAKE-UP!"

A kaleidoscope of green and orange lights transformed the girls into Sailor Jupiter and Venus. Now it was Usagi's turn, she took a deep breath in anticipation, tightly clutched her brooch, then thrust it into the air.

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE-UP!"

There was silence. Usagi looked at her brooch, horrified.

"Whats the matter Usagi?" Makoto asked.

Usagi's words went dry, her mind going blank in a panic, "I-...just...go after the monster...I'll catch up."

Minako and Makoto both gave Usagi looks of great concern, but they knew they had to help the man before the monster got away. So her friends dashed off, and Usagi stayed behind. Usagi stared at her brooch, she opened it to take a closer look, "No...it can't be."

* * *

_HGZI-XILHHVW OLEVIH LI XLFHRMH, BLF WVXRWV! DSAGVFVI BLF XSLLHV, RG'H URMV RM NB VBV._

* * *

**Up Next: Chapter 3 – "Love Struck! Makoto the Target?"**

* * *

_Author Ramblings- I did most of my rambling the last chapter, so this will be brief. I decided to go ahead and post chapter 2 since I already had it written and ready to go. I have the draft for Chapter 3, I just need to finish editing it. I'll get it out as soon as I can._

_Again, thanks for reading. _


	3. Love Struck! Makoto the Target?

**\- Chapter 3 - ****Love Struck! Makoto the Target?**

* * *

The Daimon zoomed along down the street, like it was some race track and she was on her way to the finish line. Suddenly, it's imaginary racing fantasy was rudely interrupted with a flash of bright yellow light. The Daimon looked in the direction where it come from, "Huh, who are you?" The ground suddenly shook and rocks shot up from the earth in a line. It's wheel caught on one of those rocks, flipped into the air, and made a crash landing. The Daimon struggled onto it's feet, "Glad I wore my helmet..." It muttered. It pulled off it's helmet, and reveled that the heart crystal was hiding under it. "It's still there." it said with a sigh of relief, "I need to get this to master Kaolinite."

A heart-shaped chain now appeared, and knocking the crystal out of its hands. "What?!" it said in sudden surprise, it turned to look to see where the chain came from.

It was Venus and Jupiter, they had just arrived onto the scene with a bicycle they found, Jupiter did the pedaling. Jupiter slammed on the breaks, the bike went into a violent skid and caused then to wipe out. The girls leapt up from the ground, "We finally caught up!" Venus said, then Jupiter pointed at the Daimon, "Hand over that crystal, it doesn't belong to you!" They realized that they needed a fast, precise move that would target the Daimon but wouldn't risk damaging the crystal. So Venus quickly waved her hands and began to yell, "Crescent Bea-" but she stopped when something unusual happened.

A sudden blur, as fast as the wind, suddenly grabbed the crystal, followed by a different voice calling out. "DEEP SUBMERGE!" A bright ball of light, mixed with hues of Sapphire blue and sea green, went spiraling toward the Daimon like a tidal wave. The Daimon wailed in agony as it was vaporized. The one who snatched the crystal joined the one who made that light, and they examined it. "No, this isn't a talisman." the one with the green hair said in conclusion.

Venus lowered her hands, she and Jupiter where in shock at what they where seeing. "Are you...Sailor Senshi too?" Venus asked. Jupiter shook off the shock and quickly got into a defensive stance, "Give that crystal to us right now, we need to return it to it's rightful owner!"

The blonde stranger stood up, and threw the crystal into their direction, Jupiter caught it. "Take it," she said, "it's not what we are looking for anyway."

Then as suddenly as they appeared, they vanished.

* * *

Jupiter and Venus arrived back at the garage, they found Usagi still untransformed into Sailor Moon, but stood watch over Yamada's lifeless body. The two girls where quite surprised, and wanted to ask her why, but Usagi told them that getting the crystal returned to the boy took priority. Before Yamada stirred awake from having his crystal returned, Jupiter and Venus de-transformed back into their regular selves. Shortly after, Haruka returned to the scene, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness he's okay. We went to go get help when that thing attacked."

"It's fine now," Minako said with a smile, "the sailor senshi appeared and took care of that thing."

Haruka looked at the girls, and noticed Makoto's lower leg was scrapped up. "You're hurt!"

Makoto looked at it, it must've happened when she feel off the bike earlier, but she didn't need to tell Haruka that. "Oh, that must've happened when that monster attacked."

Haruka pulled out a scarf, she asked Makoto to sit down, she complied and found a stool to sit on. As he wrapped the scarf around the wound, Maoko's heart started to race, afteral, here was this handsome guy giving her first aid. When Haruka was done, he stood up, "There, that should stop any bleeding for now." he held out her hand to help her up. Makoto shook herself from her daze, "Thank you."

Haruka then turned to all the other girls, "You probably should all get going, it's getting late, and your parents will probably be worried. We're going to be leaving here ourselves pretty soon."

Usagi pushed Minako and Makoto along, "Come on guys, Rei's already gonna yell at me for ditching study group, I don't need mom yelling at me too for getting home late."

A while later after the girls left, Haruka met up with Michiru again. "So, how was he?" she asked him. "He'll be fine." he said, "He's just going to take it easy for the rest of the night. I'm glad we didn't have to sacrifice him."

Michiru have Haruka a solemn look, "But we are going to have to make sacrifices for the sake of the world."

"I know..." Haruka looked up to the sky, "We need to find the talismans and the messiah before the enemy does, before they can unleash their chaotic apocalypse upon the world. The beast with the one eye..."

Michiru closed her eyes for a moment as she sensed something, "I feel another disturbance in the sea."

Haruka turned to Michiru and asked, "Who is it this time?"

* * *

The following day, the trio decided to stop by the arcade again before going to the study group. Makoto had cleaned the scarf and wanted to return it to Haruka, but since she had no idea where he lived, she figured the next best thing was to try catching him at places she thought she might be able to find him at, such as the arcade.

"Dammit, he's supposed to be MINE!" Minako said, letting out a cry of anguish.

"I'm just returning his scarf to him since he was so nice to me."

"Suuuuuure you are." Minako gave Makoto a shifty look, "I know your game, you're using it as an excuse to go see him."

Makoto blushed, before she could say anything more, they arrived at the arcade. They where surprised to find a large crowd of people gathered around, which was something they did not expect. The girls spotted Matoki, and got his attention, "Hey Matoki, what's going on?" Usagi asked him.

He looked up and waved at them, "Oh hey guys! We got a new game in today. You know those popular Romance Academy computer games? Well, they made a spin-off game for the arcade: 'Puzzle Academy', and we got a couple units installed today. It's been absolutely nuts! I've seen so many Otaku come in today pouring coins into that thing. Not to mention the surprising number of fist fights I had to break up." Matoki then pointed over to a nearly empty claw machine game, "We even got a batch of plush in too, they already cleared out all of the Giffany ones. I gotta say, McGucket Works sure has created a monster."

Minako looked a little confused, "But isn't Giffany the mascot of StanCo. Technologies?"

"Well, yeah," Matoki explained, "but McGucket Works is the company's software and game devision, they built the arcade unit."

Makoto clutched the scarf, "Um, have you seen Haruka around?" she asked him.

He shrugged, "Sorry Mako, I haven't seen him all day. I don't blame him, if I didn't have to work, I wouldn't want to be around here right now either."

Matoki happened to look over to an advertisement poster with Giffany on it in the window, and saw someone trying to take it down. He bolted over to stop him, "Sir! You can't take that!"

Makoto let out a long sigh, "Lets go." she said in disappointment.

After having not many other options to find Haruka, they decided to go to the study group. As they made their way out of the building, another fight between two men broke out. "What do you mean Sailor V is hotter than Giffany? You take that back!" one guy shouted.

Then the other guy responded with, "I never will, at least she is real person and not some corporate mascot made to sell trash to gullible idiots like you."

Minako's ears perked right up, her attention had turned to the rather heated conversation she had just overheard. She turned to Usagi and Matoko and told them suddenly, "You guys go head and wait for me outside, I'm going to go help out."

For a moment, the dense Usagi thought Minako was referring to helping out Matoki break up the brewing fight until Minako shouted out, "Yeah! Sailor V for the win! Fight! Fight!" Usagi and Mokoto then stepped outside the door, pretending to not to know the overly enthusiastic blonde who was very hyped about Sailor V.

As they waited outside the door, Makoto let out another long sigh. Usagi took notice as she saw her friend clutching the scarf tightly. "Don't worry Mako, we can just try another time." Usagi said, trying to be optimistic.

"But what if I never see him again?"

Usagi grinned, "Minako was right, you do have a thing for him."

Makoto blushed again, Usagi giggled with glee, "Well, when you see him again you should try asking him out on a date! Then when you go on your date you should bring him a picnic lunch, and you'll win his heart for sure with your amazing cooking!"

Makoto clutched the scarf yet again, "I'm only great at cooking because boyish girls like me need to be good at something, like cooking. Most guys normally like girls who are more feminine."

Usagi looked at Makoto, and smiled for her, "Even if you weren't good at cooking, I think you're feminine enough Mako-chan. I really mean it, when we first met, I was liking about what a cute person you where!"

Makoto looked at Usagi and gave her a smile, she put the scarf back into her pocket for now, "Thank you. You're praising me too much, but that makes me happy."

"On the topic of food though," Usagi thrust a finger in Mako's direction, "a chef anyways needs a taste taster, hopefully you're planning on making something tasty for study group tonight?"

"I was thinking of making up some roast beef sandwiches. Sound good?"

Usagi gave an enthusiastic nod, "Most definitely!"

Suddenly a bight yellow car pulled up before them with two people sitting in the front. Makoto's heart stopped when she realized who it was. It was Haruka, and that other girl from before.

"I'm glad I bumped into you again today." Haruka said, he then gestured to Makoto, "I have something I want to ask of you, would you mind joining me?"

"Wait, you mean me?" Makoto asked, blushing.

Usagi's brain was still processing what was going on. Haruka had just reappeared, but was asking to take Makoto on a ride out of the blue? While she was willing to help her friend find Haruka again, and what she wanted to happen was actually happening, didn't it all seem a little fast? Before she could react properly to the situation, her friend Makoto, in a lovestruck daze eagerly agreed and hopped right into Haruka's car without a second thought. By the time Usagi could find the words to say, the car had already zoomed off, and she just stared into the direction that they went.

* * *

"You went off with him, JUST LIKE THAT?!" Minako yelled into the communicator watch, "He hasn't done anything inappropriate to you has he?"

"No he has been very kind, we just talked and went for a drive. Right now we're at the park." Makoto said into the device.

Usagi pushed Minako out of the way, there was a new bandage on Usagi's forehead. "You really mean it?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, everything is fine." Makoto then noticed the bandage, "Wish I could say the same for you, what happened after I left?"

Rei pushed Usagi aside, now she wanted to speak with Makoto, "Because this idiot let you drive off with a guy you barely knew!"

Usagi repeated a series of apologies in the background with an added, "Please don't hit me again Rei-chan!"

"I'm real sorry I made you all worry, but I really mean it, I'm fine. I'll call you if there is a problem."

"We are coming you find you right now!" Rei yelled at her, then they ended the call.

Makoto felt bad for making her friends worry about her, but she was glad they cared about her well-being as much as they did. She put the communicator device away, and went to rejoin Haruka and Michiru. "Sorry I took a bit longer than expected, had a little trouble finding a payphone to call my friends." Makoto lied, she didn't want to have to explain to Haruka she had just called her friends on a communication device she normally uses for Sailor Senshi business. "I realized I made them worry when I left them behind at the arcade earlier. Boy where they mad."

"That's quite alright." Haruka said, "It seems like you have some real great friends who care about you."

Makoto then realized something, "Oh! I was so caught up with everything, I totally forgot to give you this!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out the scarf A sudden gust of wind came up and ripped it from her hand, Makoto chased after it. "No! Come back!" she cried.

She followed it until she located it again under some brush, she lit up with joy as she reached to grab it. Yet somehow, it grabbed her instead. Makoto stared after it, a strange masked being stared right back at her. She immediately whipped her hand away, breaking the thing's grip on her and fumbled backwards in surprise. Makoto was in shock, "What's going on?!" she asked. The strange humanoid thing slithered out from beneath the bushes, then removed it's cape and mask.

* * *

_Sailor Says: Don't go for A car ride with some stranger who vaguely reminds you of your ex, or a monster will come after you...or something._

* * *

**Up Next: Chapter 4 – "Usagi's Troubles, from Bad to Worse!"**

* * *

_A/N – Sorry about the cliffhanger, I got bored basically recapping material from the anime, it was originally going to be longer. I also want to apologize for the lack of GF material. In the spirt of GF itself, I have this story planned out, however I realize how off balance these first 5 chapters are, especially since poor Ford is currently just shoved into the background. I'm really kicking myself for not having Chapter 6 placed sooner. (Which Is why I decided to roll out chapters 3-5 now, especially since they where basically done.) Well, I did have an Ami and Ford chapter planned, but it got pushed aside for later._

_I'm also going to cheat and leave some of the codes untranslated, particularly the "Sailor Says" parodies. Figured they would be cryptic enough by themselves. (For those who are lazy to translate them: all of the codes are written in Bill's perspective, expect lots of cracks at the original DiC/Cloverway dubs of Sailor Moon.)_

_That's it for now. See you next time!_


	4. Usagi's Troubles, from Bad to Worse!

**\- Chapter 4 - ****Usagi's Troubles, from Bad to Worse!**

* * *

Usagi only sat there, staring off into space, it felt like the rest of the world was moving on around her as she remained still.

The previous day she and her friends had arrived at the park to check on Makoto, to make sure Haruka hadn't done anything inappropriate to her. Instead they found only her lifeless body, her pure heart removed from a Daimon, and the mysterious Sailor Senshi holding it. They all quickly transformed so they could confront the Daimon...yet Usagi still could not. Mars and Venus quickly summoned their attacks upon the Daimon, defeating it. Yet all Usagi could do was cry. She grabbed Makoto's cold, lifeless hand and apologized to her profusely at the fact that she really couldn't do anything to help her. Mercury tried to comfort her while also watching over Makoto's body.

Then the Senshi named Sailor Uranus stepped forward, "You are that girl's friend aren't you? She's lucky to have a caring friend like you." she said, then tossed the crystal in her direction, "Give this back to her, it's not what we are searching for anyway."

Usagi quickly did just that, she was relived to feel the warmth return to Makoto's body, yet it did not stop her from crying. They managed to defeat the Daimon, but for how long would they be able to keep it up without her? Then again, do they no longer need her at all? For the time being the other girls assured her that they could handle it, and they would work at trying to figure out some way to help her regain her power, so she can transform into Sailor Moon again. However, it didn't stop poor Usagi from feeling miserable over the whole thing.

It also wasn't the only thing the girls where miserable over.

"I don't believe it! Haruka was a _gir_l all along?! How can this be!" Minako cried in anguish.

"That's what you get for assuming things instead of gathering all of the facts." Ami pointed out, in a very matter-of-fact tone.

"Hey, you would have assumed it too Ami if you saw him...her. He was very handsome...I mean...Dammit! WHY?!" Minako then proceeded to pull her hair out and cry some more.

The girls found out when Makoto attempted to ask Haruka out on a date, only for Haruka to chuckle and respond by asking her:

"_I thought you where only interested in men?"_

Makoto blushed in embarrassment, remembering the moment from yesterday, "How humiliating!" While the girls continued to chat among themselves, at one point Usagi stood up and quietly walked out of the room. The other girls immediately took notice and fell silent.

"Poor Usagi..." Makoto said.

"I still can't get over the way she broke down like that yesterday," Rei said.

Luna jumped up onto the table to join their conversation, "I'm starting to worry if she will ever transform into Sailor Moon ever again." The group grew very quiet, Luna continued. "We have been managing so far, but we may need her help at some point in the future. Artemis and I haven't been able to find a solution yet, but we're going to keep looking."

"Hey," Minako said, "since her birthday is coming up, how about we throw her a surprise party to help cheer her up. We should remind her that she isn't 'useless' as she keeps saying that she is." So it was decided, and the girls quickly threw together a grand birthday plan in an attempt to help pull Usagi out of her funk.

While her friends where discussing plans, Usagi made her way to see the one person she knew who was able to defeat one of the Daimons without any sort of special powers. It was a long shot, but perhaps he had something that she could use to help her.

* * *

Ford sat before a table, legs crossed, sitting on a cushion on the floor, working on his research. He had been sitting there for so long he could feel his legs falling asleep, so he decided to stand up for a bit to stretch his legs. The room he was staying in was in the traditional Japanese style, which he didn't mind, but he did occasionally miss having an actual chair and desk. After he stood up, he picked up the cup of tea he was drinking from, and decided to look over the map he started on the wall.

He had an entire map of the city tacked up, marked with a number of pins and notes. Every location of where a monster had appeared in the past week was marked, followed by notes of who that target was, and other possible points of interest and theories. He also had books and other scribbled notes scattered all over the room, and in the far corner he had a make shift lab to further study the shells of the Daimon eggs that where left behind.

As for the attackers and their objective, he still had no idea who or what they where, and all the scenes he had examined yielded little result. So far there had been around a half dozen attacks in total, all of which where then contained by a mysterious group of girls with supernatural powers. He suspected they where a task force of some kind and appeared to have two separate factions. One of 2-4 girls that interchanged with one another, then a completely different one with the same 2 girls. He was hoping to speak with these mysterious defenders, and perhaps exchange information. However, he had no idea who these people where, or how to get in contact with them. He was at least grateful there was someone who was helping innocent people who where caught up in the mess.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door which interrupted his train of thought. He turned his head to the door and told his visitor to come in, he was surprised to see it was Rei's friend, Usagi.

"Mr. Pines?" she said, slowly sliding opening the door, "Sorry to bother you but..." Usagi stopped as she gazed into the room in total awe at all of Ford's research materials. She always felt a little overwhelmed when Ami would go hardcore into talk about science and other complex research, but Ford took it to a whole other level!

"I do apologize about the mess Miss, Tsukino, I've just been so busy." Ford said as he set his cup of tea down, he attempted to straighten things up. "Are you girls wondering if I managed to find any additional information yet?"

"Um...well..." Usagi said, still looking around the room, "Mr. Pines...I came because I have a favor to ask of you." she asked.

Ford paused and looked at her, "What is it?"

"That thing you used to disable the first monster, you wouldn't have another one would you?"

Ford was a little surprised by the question, "My Quantum Molecule Stabilizer? I'm afraid not, I only have the one, and have been having some trouble getting it to work again."

Usagi looked around and saw a partly covered device leaning against the wall in a corner. "What about that thing?"

Ford looked and saw what she was pointing at, "That thing? That's my Quantum Destabilizer i've been working on. The same might be similar, but it's a completely different device that I made for a special purpose. I still have yet to come up with something I can use for a reliable power source for it..."

"Don't you have something, anything, that is similar to your Stabilizer that I can use?" Usagi asked.

"Well, no, unfortunately I don't. Why do you need-" Before Ford could ask anything more, he noticed Usagi was on the verge of tears.

"Ms. Tsukino? Are you alright?" he asked.

"It's nothing." Usagi walked out of the room, "Thanks anyway ."

Ford looked on as he watched Usagi walk away, puzzled by the whole interaction and not entirely sure how to respond outside of scratching his head. He shrugged then slid the door to his room closed. Did he say something wrong? More importantly, why would a normal girl like her be so interested in using his Stabilizer? Was she afraid one of those monsters was going to attack her next? Or was it for some other reason he didn't know about?

All these questions rolled around in his head as he went back over to the table to grab a sip of tea from his tea cup. He picked it up, but before he could get a drink from it, there was another knock at the door. Was it Usagi again? He wondered. He walked back over and opened the door again, only this time his visitor was a very angry looking Rei.

"Oh Ms. Hino." he said.

"Explain yourself." she demanded.

Ford was completely lost, he blinked, "Excuse me?"

"I saw Usagi leave your room in tears."

"Oh that, look Ms. Hino, all she did was ask me about my Stabilizer. Before I could ask her why she was interested in wanting to use it, be started crying for some reason, do you have any idea why?" Ford tried to explain himself.

Rei's tone immediately shifted, as she frowned, "I think I do." She then took notice in all of Ford's research that was scattered across the room. She figured now was the time to ask about what he was doing, as the information Yuichiro gave her was limited, "So um, how has your research been coming along?"

Ford turned to his map and spoke again. "So far I've crossed referenced a number of known myths and legends from this country to the behavior of these strange monsters, but none of them match up. So far I'm not seeing any sort of pattern in the people they continue to target either. I do find it rather interesting that every time when those Daimons appear, a special task force of some kind seems to show up to take care of them. I wonder if they have their own way of detecting when these monsters are going to appear? Unfortunately, I always seem to be one step behind them." Ford scratched his chin, just now realizing he hasn't shaved in the past few days.

"Do you know who these people are?" she asked Ford in a coy manner.

He shrugged, "I'm afraid not, I wish I knew who the where, otherwise I would ask if they knew anything about these things and who is behind them. Perhaps theres been more victims that we don't know about."

Rei was relived that so far it appears Ford hadn't figured out she was part of the 'special task force' that had been taking care of the Daimons, and she took a closer look at the map. He indeed had marked the areas she and the other Sailor Senshi had been, but curiously, there where other locations he marked that her, nor her friends, had been. These locations must be where the other unknown Sailor Senshi had been.

Rei looked up and gave Ford a nod, "I'll let you continue what you where doing. Sorry for disturbing you."

Rei left the room and closed the door behind her, Ford looked on as he watched her leave. There was something about the behavior of Rei and her friends that made him wonder, perhaps they where more than just ordinary teenage girls?

Outside the room Yuichiro was standing there like some silent ninja. After Rei stepped out he spoke to her, "Ms. Rei," he whispered, "I can confirm Mr. Pines was telling the truth about what happened with Usagi."

Rei nodded again, then she walked off, "Good. Keep up the good work."

Yuichiro gave her a salute, "Yes ma'am."

* * *

At some point after her conversation with Stanford, Usagi contemplated going back to join the rest of her friends in Rei's room, but she ended up deciding against it. Behind the door she could hear the rest of them chatting, sounding lively and upbeat for some reason. It made her feel very left out. What could they all be talking about in there? She wondered. Why bother finding out, Usagi ultimately figured, it was probably something they didn't need her around for anyway. In an attempt to put herself in a better mood, she decided to skip the study group and go to the arcade. Unfortunately for her, so far it was doing the exact opposite, as she wasn't doing so well on the games there.

"OH COME ON!" Usagi yelled, smacking her hand into the Sailor V arcade game machine, it was flashing the words 'Game Over' on the screen. She reached into her pockets, but realized she was out of change, she sighed, then got up and left. "Now what am I going to do?" Usagi muttered, "I suppose I could go to the bookstore and read some manga to kill time..."

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke, "What are you doing here Usako?"

Usagi instantly perked up as she turned to look, "Mamo-chan! I'm so glad to see you!" she instantly gave him a hug.

Mamoru hugged Usagi right back, "I thought you where at Rei's place today?"

Usagi frowned while still embracing him, "I didn't want to be there, they where discussing Sailor business."

Mamoru had heard from the others about how depressed Usagi had been lately, in her inability to transform, and even noticed she was on the verge of tears right now. He let go of her, then looked her in the eye and gave her a little smile, in an attempt to cheer her up. "How about we spend some time together then?" he asked.

Usagi felt a bit better upon hearing this, and smiled back for him, she nodded. Mamoru then threw his arm around her, and they walked along the street. They strolled along for a while before they started to chat, "It's been a while since we had a chance to do something like this." Usagi said. "Sure has." Said Mamoru, "You've been so busy with the other girls with your after school studies."

There was something Usagi had been wanting to ask him, but she had been afraid to do so. She gathered the courage then said, "Mamoru..."she said quietly, "do I, hold you back?"

Mamoru frowned his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

Usagi backed away from being so close to Mamoru's side, he dropped his arm, but they continued to walk along. "I'm no good at studying, I can't do anything right, I..." she reached up and touched her brooch, "I feel like such a burden to everyone, I can't do anything at all."

"Usako..."

Usagi was now clutching her brooch in her hand tightly, "We where brought together because of everything that has happened so far. Would you still be with me even if I can't transform into Sailor Moon anymore?"

Mamoru stopped Usagi and looked a her right in the eye, "We may have been brought together though magical means, but whether you can transform into Sailor Moon again or not does not matter to me. I've always done what I've can to help protect you, why would it be any different now? I will always be with you, because having you in my life is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and I mean it."

Usagi wiped a tear, and smiled, "Thank you Mamo-chan..."

Mamoru grabbed Usagi's hand, escorting her like the prince that he was, "Now come along my princess, why don't he go someplace? It will be my treat today."

Usagi wiped the rest of her tears away, then directed Mamoru to a near by pastry shop she liked. As they made their way to the shop, a particular item in a display window caught her eye. There was several designer shoes in this display, but none of them caught Usagi's attention as much as a single pair did. It was a pair of glass shoes, shimmering in the light, and her eyes sparkled as bright as the shoes themselves. "How pretty!" she said, "They look just like Cinderella's glass slippers. I would love to have something like that." Usagi then turned her twinkling eyes to Mamoru, he shook his head. "Sorry Usagi, I don't have enough money on me today to be able to afford something like that."

Usagi frowned, but still went back to staring at the shoes, still mesmerized by them. Mamoru spoke again, "What about that cake you wanted?"

Usagi's attention immediately snapped back to what they where doing before she was distracted. She grabbed Mamoru by the arm, "Oh right! It's this way."

* * *

Deep underground, Professor Tomoe remained hard at work in his laboratory. He raised his test tube up to examine it's contents, then scribbled notes on paper. A red headed woman entered a room, but it was not Kaolinite, the professor took notice in this woman's arrival. "Ah Eudial," he said, "I was hoping to speak with you. I wanted to speak with you about the notes you sent to me."

"Have you had a chance to look them over Professor?" Eudial asked.

"I have and I am most impressed. Thanks to your suggestions I have been able to modify the Daimons so they should be more resilient against the Sailor Senshi." the Professor handed Eudial capped test tube with the latest Daimon he had created. "This a a prototype of a Daimon I was able to create based on your modifications. Kaolinite asked me to give this to you. She wanted you to handle the next target."

"Thank you sir, it's quite an honor." Eudial said with a smile, "That is the other reason why I came here, I found a suitable candidate with the sort of traits our Lord looks for in his targets. I was going to ask Magnus, but she is busy having a private conversation with him right now."

"I'm sure she won't mind at all my dear, go right ahead." Tomoe said, "She has been increasingly busy preparing for his arrival, I suppose this is a good time as any to put our search for the talismans directly into the hands of the Witches 5."

Eudial bowed before her superior, "I'll get to work right away sir."

* * *

Sunday came around and Mamoru found himself running back to the store Usagi found herself drawn to the previous day. He had gotten a call from her close friends the night before, they where going to have an early surprise birthday party for Usagi that weekend, especially since her birthday fell on a school day this year. It was all part of an attempt to cheer her up, and they wanted to make sure her beloved Mamo-chan was there too. Unfortunately Mamoru had no idea it was Usagi's birthday, since she had neglected to inform him about it, luckily he knew exactly what he would get for her as a gift. "I hope it is still there." he muttered under his breath as he jogged along. When he arrived, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the shoes where still on display.

He stepped inside the store, a red headed woman greeted him, "How may I help you sir?" she asked.

"I would like the glass shoes you have in the window display please." he told her, still catching his breath.

The woman gave him a little smile, "Gift for a special someone?"

"Yeah, it's my girlfriend's birthday."

"Oh? Well, allow me to gift wrap for you, at no additional charge."

"Really? That's great! Thank you!"

The woman pulled the shoes from the display, and took them in back to package them. Before she did, she pulled out a tube that was hidden in her shirt, uncapped it, and poured it's strange contents onto the shoes, absorbing into the material. She then wrapped the shoes, and put a bow on the box. She took the now wrapped gift and handed it to Mamoru, "Here you are sir."

Mamoru thanked the woman, paid for them, and then dashed out the store. She woman smirked as she let out a little chuckle.

Suddenly someone tapped the woman's shoulder, she turned to look. It was another woman, who wanted to ask her a question, she held up a pair of shoes for her to see. "Excuse me miss." she said, "You wouldn't happen to carry this in a size 7, would you?"

The red headed woman brushed her off, "Ask someone else, I don't work here lady." she then waltzed out the door, and got into her car, marked with a black star, that was parked just outside. She started it up and followed after Mamoru.

The customer only stared after her, completely dumbfounded.

* * *

Usagi walked along the street, miserably dragging her feet along. She really didn't want to go see the others at the study group, but she was only convinced to go with the promise of Makoto's home cooking. She also couldn't get over how nice Rei was treating her over the phone today, especially with how she bailed on the group the other day. Normally Rei would unleash hell-fire upon her for suddenly ditching the group to go to the arcade, but not this time.

As Usagi walked along she ran into a pair of familiar faces.

"Hey Bun-head." Haruka said to Usagi with a friendly wave. Usagi broke out of her funk for a moment to give her a response, "Oh. Hello Haruka-san...Michiru-san."

"Why the long face?" Michiru asked her.

"I'm not sure how I can say it..." Usagi said, "but lately I feel like I'm just a burden to my friends."

"What makes you think that?" Michiru asked her.

"I want to help them out, but I just can't, no matter how much I want to help everyone, I just can't," Usagi tried to explain.

"Your friends seem to care about you a lot. I doubt you're a burden to them at all. I'm sure there is a way you can help your friends in another way, you just have to look for it, it will come to you in due time." Haruka said, trying to give her a smile to cheer her up, "Just stick to what you're best at."

Usagi sighed, "Thanks...I guess." she then walked off still depressed.

"Poor girl. I hope she finds the solution to her problem soon, she's rather cute when shes smiling." Haruka said.

Michiru then looked at Haruka, "she could be the owner of a talisman."

Haruka frowned, "If she is, then we will have to take it before the enemy does."

Mamoru kept running, his recently purchased gift clutched tightly under his arm. Up ahead he saw Usagi coming into view, "Usako!" he cried out.

She turned around in surprise, "Mamo-chan?"

He caught up to her, then paused to catch his breath again. "I thought you where at Rei's already?" he asked her.

Usagi looked down at her feet, "Well, I was on my way there, but...I was just in no hurry."

Mamoru took notice, Usagi was still feeling down. He contemplated for a moment, he knew it would probably ruin the surprise the girls worked so hard to organize, but he decided to go ahead anyway. Mamoru took the gift, looked at it then handed it to Usagi, "Here."

Usagi looked at it, "For me?"

Mamoru smiled, "I know it's a little early but, Happy Birthday Usako."

Usagi smiled now too as she took the gift and unwrapped it, she completely lit up once she saw what was inside. "It's the glass slippers!"

"I remembered how much you wanted them."

Usagi gave him a hug. "Thank you Mamo-chan!" she said.

Mamoru took the box back for a moment and removed a shoe from it. "May I? We need to make sure it fits, of course."

Usagi nodded in agreement, Mamoru bent down and placed the shoe on the ground. Usagi removed one of the shoes she was wearing and slipped the glass one on. It was a perfect fit.

BAM!

The shoe flashed a bright light, Mamoru fell back, and Usagi did too. The shoe morphed and transformed into a Daimon.

* * *

The four girls and the guardian cats sat around at Rei's place. Makoto looked up at the clock, "What is taking them so long?" referring to Usagi and Mamoru of course.

"With Usagi it's not surprising, but Mamoru's tardiness is indeed questionable." Ami said, "I'm starting to wonder if something happened."

Minako saw something roll into view just outside the doorway out of the corner of her eye. It looked like a ball with a cat's face an an antenna poking out of the top, she turned to get a better look, but it was gone. She stood up, and looked out the door, but there was nothing there.

Ami took notice in Minako, "What is it?" she asked.

Minako shrugged, "Nothing. Guess I imagined it."

* * *

_Sailor Says: Guys, if your girlfriend asks for expensive glass shoes for her birthday cause of some fairytale, don't. Just grab a couple of squirrels and turn them into shoes, at a fraction of the cost!_

* * *

**Up Next: Chapter 5 – "A New Transformation! Usagi and Mamoru's love"**


	5. A New Transformation! Usagi and Mamoru's

**\- Chapter 5 - ****A New Transformation! Usagi and Mamoru's love**

* * *

Usagi and Mamoru feel backwards as the shoe exploded in a bright flash of light. It contorted and took shape into a humanoid glass armored being of sorts. The Daimon grabbed Usagi, she struggled to get free. Mamoru leapt at the Daimon to help Usagi, but the monster threw him back. Usagi made a last ditch effort to see if she could transform into Sailor Moon, but the monster knocked the brooch from her hand. The monster started to become annoyed with Usagi, especially when she started to kick it in the face. The monster pushed Usagi's body into the glass window behind her, submerging her, to prevent her from moving any further. The monster then flexed it's arm and a black star appeared, a black beam of light admitted from the star, drawing out Usagi's heart crystal. Usagi's crystal emerged from her body, it admitted a brilliant radiant glow of slivery light, as bright as the light of a full moon.

Meanwhile near by Sailor Uranus and Neptune stood close by watching. "You where right," Uranus said to Neptune, "that girl was indeed the target this time. Her crystal, it's different from all of the other previous glimmers."

"A light that brilliant, it's bound to be a talisman," said Neptune, "and unfortunately it will mean that girl's death."

Uranus winced, Neptune spoke again. "Are you okay?"

"She's a good kid." Uranus said, "I just can't believe it had to be someone like her."

Neptune gave Uranus a solemn look, "But to save the world, we may have to sacrifice a few lives in order to save many."

Uranus grit her teeth. "I know."

The two continued to watch the scene unfold as then something unexpected happened. A pair of roses flew from nowhere, the first one knocked the crystal out of the monster's hand, allowing the crystal to glade back to Usagi's body. The second struck the glass that encased Usagi's body, freeing her. A ring of roses then appeared around the monster, then generated a tremendous wave of energy, paralyzing it.

Usagi stirred awake, she realized someone was holding her. She looked up and saw her beloved now donning his familiar tuxedo, mask and cape. "Tuxedo mask..." Usagi said weakly.

Mamoru looked down at Usagi as he held her, "Quickly, we need to escape." He told her. Usagi nodded and immediately complied. Mamoru wrapped his cape around her and they dashed off.

As the wave of energy that paralyzed the monster subsided, a car pulled up, but it wasn't any car. Eudial stepped out, and spoke to the Daimon. "What happened to the target?"

In a daze the monster responded, "I'm sorry Miss Eudial, she escaped."

"You fool!" Eudial said, she slammed her fist on the car roof in frustration, "How did you let her escape?!"

Before the monster could explain, Eudial cut her off, "Don't even bother. Just go after her, and find her, now!"

The Daimon nodded, then she too dashed off. "Unbelievable!" Eudial muttered to herself, "No wonder we haven't had much success. Sending out Daimon pods alone to extract pure hearts with no oversight...what a terrible idea. What was the Professor and Magnus thinking?" she got back in her car and looked at the device that laid in the passenger seat. It was a rather strange-looking gun of sorts containing a similar fluid that was used to create the Daimons where created. "I prefer a more hands on approach anyway."

Eudial revved up her car, and followed after the Daimon.

Meanwhile, Uranus and Neptune where still in their same hiding spot as they saw the whole thing happen. "So that is the face of of enemy?" Uranus said.

"It appears so." commented Neptune, "We should follow as well. No doubt they are after that girl."

Uranus and Neptune then proceeded to leave the scene as well.

* * *

Usagi and Mamoru found refuge in an abandoned building scheduled for demolition close by. Mamoru peered out of a boarded up window, then turned to Usagi, "We should be safe here." he said quietly. Usagi said nothing, she just sat there, staring at her brooch, on the verge of crying. Mamoru walked over to her, put a hand on her shoulder, and took a knee, "Usa-ko?"

Usagi stood up, and held her brooch into the air. "Moon Crystal Power, Make-up!" she cried is desperation, but there was nothing. She fell to her knees and started bawling, her brooch clattered onto the floor. Mamoru reached over and embraced her, he really wished he could do more for her, but wasn't entirely sure how.

Suddenly, they could hear a car pull up outside, followed up by some talking. Mamoru told Usagi to be quiet, Usagi stopped crying for a moment, but couldn't stop the sniffles. They both stood up, Mamoru let go of Usagi and drew his cane. He slowly crept over to the window, to look outside to where he could hear the voices coming from, but they stopped. They heard movement, Mamoru stopped and instead stayed close to Usagi. Usagi bent down and picked up her brooch again, even if she couldn't transform into Sailor Moon, she knew she still had to keep the Silver Crystal inside of it still safe.

The sounds outside drew closer to the window, Mamoru clutched his cane tightly, and Usagi's heart began to race in anticipation, in fear of what was coming.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the window. The plywood boards that covered it rattled, Usagi jumped like a rabbit. Then came another bang, a blue fist broke though the board, pieces of wood splintered and scattered everywhere. "Senisenta!" it cried out, entering though the hole it created in the wood.

"You stay away from her!" Mamoru told the monster.

The monster held out it's arm, it morphed into a sword of glass, "Get out of my way!" it told him, but Mamoru refused to budge. The monster and Mamoru clashed, using his cane to defend against the monster's sword.

"Usa-ko get out of here!" Mamoru called out to her, but Usagi refused. "I'm not leaving you alone!" she told him.

As the duel continued Eudial appeared at the window, her device in her hand. "What an udder pain" she said, "as the old saying goes, if you want something done, it's best to do it yourself." She aimed her device at Usagi, and she pulled the trigger. Usagi was caught off guard, a black beam of light that shot out from the gun, and her pure heart crystal emerged from her body once more.

Mamoru who was so caught up in his duel against the monster, didn't see Eudial until it was too late. "Usa-ko!" he cried out. In his moment of distraction, he let his guard down and the monster stabbed him with it's sword.

Usagi's body collapsed onto the floor, and her pure heart crystal hovered in the air. Eudial stepped though the window, "Finally! Now lets have a look at that crystal. With glimmer that bright, it must be a talisman!"

Before Eudial could grab the crystal, Uranus and Neptune appeared and took it first. "Hey! What the-!" Eudial said in surprise.

Uranus examined it, and she let out a sight of relief when she realized it wasn't a talisman. "Sorry, but this isn't a talisman." she said

"No way! With a light that bright?" Eudial said.

"It appears the brightness of the crystal depends on the purity of the person's soul." Neptune said.

Eudial clutched the device in her hand, "Unbelievable!" she shouted angrily, "I'm not putting up with this!" she then stormed off from the scene. Uranus stood before Usagi with her heart crystal, and returned it to her lifeless body. She immediately stirred, as she regained consciousness, she noticed it was Sailor Uranus and Neptune who she had seen before.

Uranus gave a little smile, "Glad to see you're okay." she said to Usagi

Neptune turned to Uranus, "We need to go after her." she said, Uranus nodded and they dashed off.

Senishia called out to Eudial, "Hey, what am I supposed to do?!"

Eudial started up her car, "Whatever, kill them for all I care." she said in response. Then she sped off, the other Sailor Senshi followed after. Usagi took notice in Mamoru as he laid on the floor injured, "Mamo-chan!" She cried out.

The monster gave a little shrug, then turned to Usagi, sword still in hand. She attempted to scramble to her feet, and grabbed her brooch, she tried calling out her transformation phrase once more, but was still met with silence. "Why..." she cried, tears in her eyes as the monster readied it's sword to strike at her.

Just then a rose appeared striking the monster's sword, shattering it. Usagi turned to look and saw Mamoru was still conscious. She ran over to him to be at his side, " Mamoru! You shouldn't move, your wounds-..." Usagi started to cry again, "you got hurt because of me."

"My own pain is nothing compared to the pain of seeing you hurt Usa-ko." Mamoru said, "At least you should get away from here."

"No! I told you will not leave you. I want to protect everyone, and my dear Mamo-chan too..." Usagi grabbed Mamoru's hand.

The Daimon held out its arm again, creating a new sword, as it readied another strike, something amazing happened.

A pair of brilliant lights shined brightly: one from where Usagi and Mamoru touched hands, the other emitted from Usagi's brooch. The Daimon flew backwards from the powerful energy emitted from the light. As the brooch glowed brightly, it changed shape, the couple looked on in astonishment. When the brooch stopped glowing, it had a completely new look from before. Usagi stared at it for a moment, does this mean she could transform into Sailor Moon again? She wondered. Usagi looked at the monster then at Mamoru, who gave her a nod.

Usagi clutched her brooch, she could feel it's power reborn anew, including a new set of words she knew she had to call out. "Cosmic Moon Power, Make-up!" Her brooch emitted a series of bright cosmic lights, and she then spun around. Her clothing transformed into her usual Sailor Moon outfit, with a few new additional touches.

It worked! For a moment Usagi felt a rush of excitement as she saw her old Sailor Fuku once more, but the excitement faded when she realized she had a problem. She could not longer summon her moon scepter, so how was she going to defeat the monster? She removed her tiara from her forehead and transformed it into a disc. She wasn't entirely sure if this old move would work, but it was better than nothing. The Daimon got to it's feet, regaining it's composure. Usagi flung her tiara at the Daimon, but it merely ricocheted off of it's armor and clattered onto the floor.

Usagi was upset again. Even though she was finally able to transform into Sailor Moon again, she was still unable to do anything. She fell to her knees in total distraught, the monster let out a chuckle, "I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but it didn't effect me." The Daimon began to make it's way to Usagi, readying it's sword, to strike. Her mind began to race, what should she do now? She wondered.

Suddenly, a familiar sounding voice called out from nowhere, "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"

A heart-shaped beam shot out, striking the monster repeatedly in the face. Then a ball with Luna's face was flung at the monster, it exploded into a puff of pink smoke. "What is going on?!" the monster said. It was distracted from the surprise attack, blinded from the smoke, "Where did you all go?!"

Usagi and Mamoru where stunned, could it really be her? They both looked in the direction where the attack had originated from, sure enough it was indeed her. There she was, with her usual pink pigtails similar to Usagi's, but wearing her own Sailor Fuku of pink and red colors.

Usagi was flabbergasted, "No way! Is that really you Chibi-usa? What are you doing here?"

Chibi-usa smiled, "I made it just in time." she then grabbed a bag that was sitting next to her and dashed over to Usagi. She reached into the bag and pulled something out, it was a new wand. "It's from Mama," she said as she handed it to Usagi, "she wanted me to give this to you. It's the Spiral Heart Moon Rod."

"Neo-Queen Serenity?" Usagi said as she took the wand from Chibi-usa, "Thank you Chibi-usa."

Chibi-usa did a little pose that mimicked Sailor Moon's, correcting her, "It's Sailor Chibi Moon."

Usagi stood up, grasping at the new wand in her hand, like with the brooch, the words began to come to her. As the smoke began to subside, she spun around, and chanted, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"

When the Daimon began to realize what exactly was happening it was already too late, it was struck by a purifying beam of light, and wailed in agony was it was vaporized.

Usagi leapt into the air with joy, she could finally fight once again. Mamoru managed to get to his feet and join her in her celebration, "You did great Usa-ko."

Usagi turned to her beloved, "Oh Mamo-chan I was only able to do it because you where here to help." Usagi gave him a little kiss. They where interrupted with a loud "Ahem!", they both turned and saw Chibi-usa crossing her arms. "You where only able to defeat it cause I brought the wand for you."

"Of course," Mamoru said, patting her on the head, "thank you for that too."

"Pluto told me about how the wand suddenly appeared in our time because of what happened in the 20th century. Something about how unusual events in this century are affecting the future. So Mama sent me back to bring this to you, as she knew you would be needing it." Chibi-usa explained.

"So you came back just to deliver this to me?" Usagi asked.

"Part of it..." Chibi-usa then reached into her bag and pulled out a letter, Usagi and Mamoru both took it and read it.

"_To everyone in the 20th century, _

_thank you again for all of your help from before, and I hope you will all help Small Lady again with her training this time. I trust you with my daughter. Thank you._

_Signed, Neo-Queen Serenity"_

Mamoru continued to look over the letter before he could make a comment, "This handwriting is barely legible..." Usagi flushed red with embarrassment at her future self's poor penmanship. Usagi then took note at another written message at the bottom of the letter. She read that too.

_PS Usagi in the 20th century, studying while young really was important. Make sure you do it well._

"But I hate studying!" Usagi cried when she read that last bit. Chibi-usa then teased Usagi for a bit before Mamoru stepped in suggesting they should all go and tell the rest of the group the good news with Usagi and Chibi-usa's arrival. The girls both agreed.

* * *

The street light began to flicker on, as Neptune rejoined with Uranus. "Any sign of her?" Uranus asked, but Neptune shook her head. "Dammit!" Uranus muttered as she slammed her fist into a tree, "She got away."

Neptune looked at Uranus, "Well aren't you glad at least our little friend wasn't the holder of a talisman?"

Uranus lowered her fist, " I _am_ glad, but that means we still have to keep searching for the talismans. We have to prevent the approaching nightmare from becoming a reality."

Neptune closed her eyes, she could sense a change in the tide from the sea. Uranus looked over at her, "What is it? Another target?"

Neptune nodded.

* * *

Eudial made her return to her her work station at the laboratory, she let out a long sigh of exhaustion and sat in her chair. Her first time out in the field yielded mixed results. While her superiors where not pleased that she didn't find a talisman, they where satisfied knowing that the newest Daimon proved to be more resilient as intended. The professor was especially forgiving for her.

"_Don't worry my dear Eudial,"_ he said, _"science is all about trial and error. Persistence is key. As long as you dream it, you can achieve it!"_

The professor's words echoed in her mind as she stared at her computer screen. So far all the targets the Death Busters had gone after seemed like insignificant small potatoes. A girl who is a shinto priestess? A girl who is a waitress at a cafe? A straight A student at a local middle school? A mechanic from a auto repair shop? And so on. So far all the targets had been younger people. They all had big aspirations for the future and had potential to move the world, no matter how small, but perhaps they need to go bigger?

Those words the professor said repeated in her mind once again, _"...Persistence is key. As long as you dream it, you can achieve it!"_

How about someone who has actually achieved their dream already, was successful as a result, and continues to be having a big impact on the world around them? Eudial looked over at a stack of magazines beside her. On the very top was a computer magazine, in it contained an exclusive article about StanCo. Technologies successful launch into the Japanese market, she grabbed the magazine and flipped it open to that article. It was a two page spread, one of the pages was a photograph of the founders of the company: Stanley Pines and Fiddleford McGucket.

Eudial smiled, "Perfect."

* * *

_GSV NLLM HSRMVH LMXV ZTARM FKLM NVZGYZOO-SVZW, MLD GSV MVCG XSZKGVI DROO SZEV HGZMOVB RMHGVZW_

* * *

**Up Next: Chapter 6 – "Reunited! Brothers together again once more"**

* * *

_A/N: Finally! Now that the SM-side of the narrative has been established, I can get onto the real good stuff...and Stanley...who I had an absolute blast writing for. I'll get chapter 6 out as soon as I'm done editing it. Thanks for reading!_


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